This year marked the first time that Roanoke-Chowan Publications has named the Citizen of the Year in our annual Crossroads edition, and we were honored to have so many worthy candidates for this prestigious award.

The list of candidates submitted by our readers in each of the four counties we cover ranged from all walks of life. Each individual or group have all accomplished extraordinary things in and for our community.

What is really a shame is the fact that each and every one was not able to be crowned as the Citizen of the Year. However, due to the outstanding contributions they make to the communities in which we live and work, they all are winners in our eyes.

Our winners this year without a doubt went above and beyond the call of duty to assist the communities and their neighbors after the terrible tornadoes that struck our little corner of the world last year. The Rev.  R.O. Denton  Jr. of Askewville Assembly of God and the Rev.  David Crumpler are to be commended for the leadership they each provided in the wake of those deadly twisters.

While the parishioners of those two churches come from different religious denominations, storms, such as the one that tore through the heart of Bertie and Hertford counties on April 16, 2011, do not recognize race, worth, gender or religious belief. Those two congregations, under the capable leadership of Crumpler and Denton, joined together as one and fanned out throughout the impacted area in an effort to help their neighbors as well as provide a spiritual calm in the wake of such a deadly storm.

Thank-you to both churches and their pastors for helping our fellow Roanoke-Chowan region residents in their time of great need and congratulations are in order for being named as Citizens of the Year.

We look forward to the Citizen of the Year becoming an annual tradition in February when Roanoke-Chowan Publications publishes the annual Crossroad edition.

Each year Roanoke-Chowan Publication is elated to present our Crossroads editions to our readers in the beautiful Roanoke Chowan area. Each February the staff here puts in long hard hours to make sure the special, four-week section is an improvement over last year.

I can attest to the long hours our staff put in this year to bring our readers the 2012 Crossroads edition. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our staff for the exhaustive month you have put in this February.

I hope our readers enjoyed the 2012 Crossroads as much as we enjoyed putting it together for you. I also want to thank our sponsors of Crossroads because without you we could not have put out this wonderful edition that gave us a chance to salute the “best of the best” in our area.

Lastly, I want to thank our readers for their trust and loyalty. Crossroads is really a labor of love from us to you.

Joe Cowart is Publisher of Roanoke-Chowan Publications. He can be reached at joe.cowart@r-cnews.com or 252-332-7218.